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| {{Multiple issues|
| | Greetings! I am Myrtle Shroyer. For years I've been working as a payroll clerk. To collect badges is what her family and her appreciate. North Dakota is her birth place but she will have to move 1 working day or another.<br><br>Stop by my weblog [http://Www.Todays-Psychologists.com/node/60769 http://Www.Todays-Psychologists.com/node/60769] |
| {{technical|date=August 2011}}
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| {{context|date=April 2011}}
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| {{expert-subject|date=May 2010}}
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| {{Quantum field theory|cTopic=Equations}}
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| The '''Wheeler–DeWitt equation'''<ref name=DeWitt>{{Cite journal |last=DeWitt |first=B. S. |title=Quantum Theory of Gravity. I. The Canonical Theory |journal=[[Physical Review|Phys. Rev.]] |volume=160 |issue=5 |pages=1113–1148 |year=1967 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.160.1113 |bibcode=1967PhRv..160.1113D}}</ref> is an attempt to mathematically meld the ideas of [[quantum mechanics]] and [[general relativity]], a step toward a theory of [[quantum gravity]]. In this approach, [[time in physics|time]] plays no role in the equation, leading to the problem of time.<ref>https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/d5d3dc850933</ref> More specifically, the equation describes the quantum version of the [[Hamiltonian constraint]] using metric variables. Its commutation relations with the [[Diffeomorphism constraint]]s generate the Bergmann-Komar "group" (which ''is'' the [[Diffeomorphism group]] on-shell, but differs off-shell).
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| == Motivation and background ==
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| In [[Canonical quantum gravity|canonical gravity]], spacetime is [[Foliation|foliated]] into spacelike submanifolds. The three-metric (i.e., metric on the hypersurface) is <math>\gamma_{ij}</math> and given by
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| :<math>g_{\mu\nu}\,\mathrm{d}x^{\mu}\,\mathrm{d}x^{\nu}=(-\,N^2+\beta_k\beta^k)\,\mathrm{d}t^2+2\beta_k\,\mathrm{d}x^k\,\mathrm{d}t+\gamma_{ij}\,\mathrm{d}x^i\,\mathrm{d}x^j.</math>
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| The three-metric <math>\gamma_{ij}</math> is the field, and we denote its conjugate momenta as <math>\pi^{kl}</math>. The Hamiltonian is a constraint (characteristic of most relativistic systems)
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| :<math>\mathcal{H}=\frac{1}{2\sqrt{\gamma}}G_{ijkl}\pi^{ij}\pi^{kl}-\sqrt{\gamma}\,{}^{(3)}\!R=0</math>
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| where <math>\gamma=\det(\gamma_{ij})</math> and <math>G_{ijkl}=(\gamma_{ik}\gamma_{jl}+\gamma_{il}\gamma_{jk}-\gamma_{ij}\gamma_{kl})</math> is the Wheeler-DeWitt metric.
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| Quantization "puts hats" on the momenta and field variables, and we obtain an operator
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| :<math>\widehat{\mathcal{H}}=\frac{1}{2\sqrt{\gamma}}\widehat{G}_{ijkl}\widehat{\pi}^{ij}\widehat{\pi}^{kl}-\sqrt{\gamma}\,{}^{(3)}\!\widehat{R}.</math>
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| Working in "position space", these operators are
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| :<math> \hat{\gamma}_{ij}(t,x^k) \to \gamma_{ij}(t,x^k)</math>
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| :<math> \hat{\pi}^{ij}(t,x^k) \to -i \frac{\delta}{\delta \gamma_{ij}(t,x^k)}. </math>
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| == Derived from Path Integral ==
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| The Wheeler–DeWitt equation can be derived from a [[Path integral formulation|path integral]] using the [[Gravitation|gravitational action]] in the [[Euclidean quantum gravity]] paradigm:<ref>See J. B. Hartle and S. W. Hawking, "Wave function of the Universe." ''Phys. Rev. D'' '''28''' (1983) 2960–2975, [http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.28.2960 eprint].</ref>
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| :<math>Z = \int_{C}\mathrm{e}^{-I[g_{\mu\nu},\phi]}\mathcal{D}\bold{g}\, \mathcal{D}\phi</math>
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| where one integrates over a class of ''Riemannian'' four-metrics and matter fields matching certain boundary conditions.
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| Because the concept of a universal time coordinate seems unphysical, and at odds with the principles of [[general relativity]], the action is evaluated around a 3-metric which we take as the boundary of the classes of four-metrics and on which a certain configuration of matter fields exists. This latter might for example be the current configuration of matter in our universe as we observe it today. Evaluating the action so that it only depends on the 3-metric and the matter fields is sufficient to remove the need for a time coordinate as it effectively fixes a point in the evolution of the universe.
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| We obtain the Hamiltonian constraint from
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| :<math>\frac{\delta I_{EH}}{\delta N}=0</math>
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| where <math>I_{EH}</math> is the Einstein-Hilbert action, and <math>N</math> is the lapse function (i.e., the Lagrange multiplier for the Hamiltonian constraint). This is purely classical so far. We can recover the Wheeler–DeWitt equation from
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| :<math>\frac{\delta Z}{\delta N}=0=\int \left.\frac{\delta I[g_{\mu\nu},\phi]}{\delta N}\right|_{\Sigma} \exp\left(-I[g_{\mu\nu},\phi]\right)\,\mathcal{D}\bold{g}\, \mathcal{D}\phi</math>
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| where <math>\Sigma</math> is the three-dimensional boundary. Observe that this expression vanishes implies the functional derivative vanishes, giving us the Wheeler–DeWitt equation. A similar statement may be made for the [[Diffeomorphism constraint]] (take functional derivative with respect to the shift functions instead).
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| == Mathematical formalism ==
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| The Wheeler–DeWitt equation<ref name=DeWitt/> is a [[Functional derivative|functional differential]] equation. It is ill defined in the general case, but very important in [[theoretical physics]], especially in [[quantum gravity]]. It is a functional differential equation on the space of three dimensional spatial metrics. The Wheeler–DeWitt equation has the form of an operator acting on a wave functional, the functional reduces to a function in cosmology. Contrary to the general case, the Wheeler–DeWitt equation is well defined in mini-superspaces like the configuration space of cosmological theories. An example of such a [[wave function]] is the [[Hartle–Hawking state]]. [[Bryce DeWitt]] first published this equation in 1967 under the name "Einstein–Schrödinger equation"; it was later renamed the "[[John Archibald Wheeler|Wheeler]]–DeWitt equation".<ref>http://www.physics.drexel.edu/~vkasli/phys676/Notes%20for%20a%20brief%20history%20of%20quantum%20gravity%20-%20Carlo%20Rovelli.pdf</ref>
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| Simply speaking, the Wheeler–DeWitt equation says
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| {{Equation box 1
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| |indent =:
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| |equation = <math>\hat{H}(x) |\psi\rangle = 0</math>
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| |cellpadding= 6
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| |border
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| |border colour = #0073CF
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| |background colour=#F5FFFA}}
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| where <math>\hat{H}(x)</math> is the [[Hamiltonian constraint]] in quantized [[general relativity]] and <math>|\psi\rangle</math> stands for the wave function of the universe. Unlike ordinary quantum field theory or quantum mechanics, the Hamiltonian is a [[first class constraint]] on physical states. We also have an independent constraint for each point in space.
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| Although the symbols <math>\hat{H}</math> and <math>|\psi\rangle</math> may appear familiar, their interpretation in the Wheeler–DeWitt equation is substantially different from non-relativistic quantum mechanics. <math>|\psi\rangle</math> is no longer a spatial wave function in the traditional sense of a complex-valued function that is defined on a 3-dimensional space-like surface and normalized to unity. Instead it is a [[functional (mathematics)|functional]] of field configurations on all of spacetime. This wave function contains all of the information about the geometry and matter content of the universe. <math>\hat{H}</math> is still an operator that acts on the [[Hilbert space]] of wave functions, but it is not the same Hilbert space as in the nonrelativistic case, and the Hamiltonian no longer determines evolution of the system, so the [[Schrödinger equation]] <math>\hat{H} |\psi\rangle = i \hbar \partial / \partial t |\psi\rangle </math> no longer applies. This property is known as timelessness. The reemergence of time requires the tools of [[decoherence]] and clock operators {{Citation needed|date=May 2013}}.
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| We also need to augment the Hamiltonian constraint with [[momentum constraint]]s
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| :<math>\vec{\mathcal{P}}(x) \left| \psi \right\rangle = 0</math>
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| associated with spatial diffeomorphism invariance.
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| In [[minisuperspace]] approximations, we only have one Hamiltonian constraint (instead of infinitely many of them).
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| In fact, the principle of [[general covariance]] in general relativity implies that global evolution per se does not exist; the time <math>t</math> is just a label we assign to one of the coordinate axes. Thus, what we think about as time evolution of any physical system is just a [[gauge transformation]], similar to that of [[Quantum electrodynamics|QED]] induced by U(1) local gauge transformation <math> \psi \rightarrow e^{i\theta(\vec{r} )} \psi</math> where <math>\theta(\vec{r})</math> plays the role of local time. The role of a Hamiltonian is simply to restrict the space of the "kinematic" states of the Universe to that of "physical" states - the ones that follow gauge orbits. For this reason we call it a "Hamiltonian constraint." Upon quantization, physical states become wave functions that lie in the [[Kernel (matrix)|kernel]] of the Hamiltonian operator.
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| In general, the [[Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics)|Hamiltonian]] vanishes for a theory with general covariance or time-scaling invariance.
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| ==See also==
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| *[[ADM formalism]]
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| *[[Diffeomorphism constraint]]
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| *[[Peres metric]]
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| ==References==
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| {{Reflist}}<!--added above categories/infobox footers by script-assisted edit-->
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| {{quantum gravity}}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler-DeWitt equation}}
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| [[Category:Quantum gravity]]
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| [[Category:Equations]]
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Greetings! I am Myrtle Shroyer. For years I've been working as a payroll clerk. To collect badges is what her family and her appreciate. North Dakota is her birth place but she will have to move 1 working day or another.
Stop by my weblog http://Www.Todays-Psychologists.com/node/60769